Tag Archives: Smart About Money Blog

Save a little, save a latte?
We continually hear that we aren’t saving enough, and that we all need to get cracking on building up those savings. But how?

An article from Money Instructormakes the interesting argument that in order to get the savings ball rolling, you need to give up small expenditures, and then stash the savings away.

The article talks of the “Latte Factor”.

“Many people will think nothing of spending $2.50 each and every day on an afternoon latte,” the article notes. “It is true that $2.50 is not that much money… however, if you were to add up that $2.50 a day, it becomes $12.50 each work week.” That’s $52.50 a month, and $630 per year, the article notes.

We all don’t buy lattes, but there are certainly other habitual and largely unnecessary expenses we could give up in order to boost our savings, the article notes.

“The first step in finding your (Latte Factor) is to write down everything you spend for a month or longer,” the article advises. You’ll find many things may be slipping through the cracks in your spending, the blog adds – “vending machines, the convenience store, lunches, and dinner at fast food or restaurants.”

“Pay yourself first,” the blog advises. Savings should be a “fixed item” in your spending plans, the article notes. Make it automatic, the blog continues – “set up an automatic transfer from your chequing account to your savings account each month.” The blog also urges people to save one-time payments such as tax refunds, bonuses, tips, or “proceeds from garage sales” to savings accounts.

Another idea we’ve heard is to save up all change, as well as winnings from scratch tickets or money from bottle deposit returns, in a piggy bank. When the bank gets heavy, it’s time to deposit the money in savings.

Any road that gets you to more savings is the right one. And an excellent destination for those savings is a Saskatchewan Pension Plan account. Your money will be professionally managed at a very low cost, will grow over time, and can be converted to a lifetime annuity when you retire.

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer, hopeful darts player and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Sheltie, Duncan, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22